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City Commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday night on a tax abatement request from the developers of the Rocky Mountain Building in downtown Great Falls.

A public hearing on the requested abatement is scheduled for the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The building has been empty since a 2009 fire and “has unfortunately become a blemish in the heart of downtown,” according to the staff report.

The developers, the Rocky Mountain Building Joint Venture Group, have dropped the plan to build apartments and a theater in the space and are now considering 48 market-rate residential units and commercial space on the first floor. They’re also planning parking spaces in the basement.

The project is expected to cost $11 million.

The developers have requested a tax abatement, which, if granted, would begin in March for a 12-month construction year ending March 2016 and a five-year 100 percent tax abatement ending in 2021.

If granted, the developers will still pay taxes on the land, which is estimated at $1,954, according to the city.

The estimated future taxable value of the improvement only is estimated at $182,354, according to the city, but the amount of taxes that would be assessed are dependent on the applicable mills and final appraised values.

The project is in the running for tax credits from the Montana Community Development Corp.

Earlier this year, the commission approved the same kind of tax abatement for the Celtic Cowboy.

Both buildings are in the downtown tax increment financing district, where all revenue over a set base level goes back into the district for public improvements. Those projects are chosen by the City Commission. The downtown TIF was renewed by the City Commission in 2012.

When the commission granted the tax abatement to the Celtic Cowboy, it said that during the abatement period, the business would be ineligible to apply for TIF funds but could do so once the abatement ended.

The commission is also expected to vote on an amendment to a professional services contract with Black and Veatch Corp. for work at the city water treatment plant.

The scope of the project has changed, which has increased the cost. The original design contract was $2,562,715. The current proposed design services are listed as $5,244,138. There are $769,48 remaining in the current contract, which will be used for final design, reducing the contract amendment value to $4,474,649.

The commission is also expected to vote on two items on the consent agenda related to trail improvements.

One is $139,357 for the West Bank Trail improvements project and will replace a deteriorated and substandard 4-foot concrete sidewalk with a new, ADA-compliant 10-foot shared-use path.

Recreational Trails Inc. will provide $23,709 to supplement the federal and state funding for the project. No city funding will be spent on the project.

The other is $366,971 in state, federal and RTI funding for the Overlook Drive Path project, which will construct a 10-foot shared-use path along the east side of Overlook Drive from 10th Avenue South to the trail leading up to Warden Park, across from the visitor center.

RTI will contribute $19,314 to the project and no city funding will be spent.